Born: 7 March 1955 (age 61) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Residence:Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Nationality:Saudi Arabia
Alma mater: Menlo CollegeSyracuse University
Occupation: Chairman & CEO of Kingdom Holding Company
Year’s active: 1979–present
Net worth:Increase US$32 billion (April 2016)
Religion:Islam
Spouse(s):Dalal bint Saud bin Abdulaziz (divorced) Eman bint Naser bin Abdullah al Sudair (divorced)Ameera al-Taweel (divorced)
Al-Waleed Bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud was born on 7th March 1955 and is a Saudi businessman, Chairman, CEO and humanitarian. Al-Waleed is also a member of the Saudi royal family a she’s a nephew of the late Saudi King Abdullah.
In 2008, Waleed was listed as one of Time magazine’s Time 10, a list of the hundred most influential people in the world.
Mr. Waleed is a founder, CEO and owns 95 percent of the Kingdom Holding Company, a Forbes Global 2000 company with several investments in various companies within multiple sectors such as tourism, sports, healthcare, entertainment, retail, farming, technology, mechanics, real estate and much more. The Kingdom Holding has a market capitalization of over $18 billion in 2013. He’s also Citigroup’s largest individual shareholder, the second-largest voting shareholder in 21st Century Fox and is also the owner of Paris’ Four Seasons Hotel George V and part of the Plaza Hotel.
As a result of his success in the business world, he was acknowledged by Time as the “Arabian Warren Buffett”. Al-Waleed was also listed as the 34th-richest man in the world in 2015, by Forbes with a net worth estimated to be US$28 billion.
In 2015, Waleed announced that he would donate his entire fortune to charity, but a date wasn’t given. He hopes to assist and empower women, as well as fostering their cultural understanding.
Early life and education
Al-Waleed Bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud was born on March 7th, 1955 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His father is Prince Talal and his mother, Mona Al Sohl is the daughter of Raid Al Solh, Lebanon’s first Prime Minister. His parents got divorced when he turned 7 and he joined his mother after she decided to move to Lebanon. However, young Waleed hated it in Lebanon and preferred to attend military school back in Saudi Arabia.
In 1977, Waleed received a bachelor’s degree from Menlo College in California, where he studied business administration. He also received a master’s degree in social science with honors from Syracuse University in 1985.
Philanthropy
Above all, Waleed is also an active humanitarian as he’s engaged in a lot of charitable activities in the field of educational initiatives, as well as women empowerment. He also wants to bridge the gaps between Western and Islamic communities. Waleed has contributed immensely towards education by funding a number of centers for American studies in universities in the Arab region.
On July 1, 2015, Prince Alwaleed held a press conference in which he announced his intention to donate $32 billion to philanthropic causes. He said that the funds will be used for humanitarian projects such as the empowerment of women and youth, as well as disaster relief, disease eradication and building bridges of understanding across cultures.
In July 2015, Prince Al-Waleed held a press conference wherein he announced to donate all of his wealth to philanthropic causes.
“The philanthropic pledge will help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief and create a more tolerant and accepting world,” his statement said.
Awards
The Order of Izzudin bestowed upon HRH by the President of theMaldives, Mohamed Nasheed,
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Innovation by the State of Palestine in 2009
In 2012, he received the Bahrain Medal of the First Order, the country’s highest honorary medal in late May
The Nepalese Honorary Medal of the Third Order “Mahaujjval Rastradip Manpadvi”, in August 2012.
An Honorary Companion of the National Order of Merit of the Republic of Malta in 2013
Assets
Al-Waleed owns the 65th largest private yacht in the world, the 85.9-meter (282 ft) yacht Kingdom 5KR, which was originally built for Adnan Khashoggi as the Nabila for Saudi arms dealer in 1979/
Prince Al-Waleed has also ordered a new yacht called the New Kingdom 5KR, which will be about 173 meters (567 ft) long and is worth over $500 million. The yacht is rendered by Lindsey Design and the design was delivered in late 2010.
